The Druid Grove

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druidinthemist wrote:I am a Druid. I am a 'hereditary' Druid. I also follow my belief in Jesus and his teachings. I find no conflict between the two. My grandmother, a druid, i am told read the bible from opening to closing 4 or 5 times in her lifetime. she prepared me for my life as a druid through lessons while staying the summers with her. we would kneel and say our prayers, and then would usually come a lesson. i have no desire to read the bible. i do have a spiritual peeve--i wish the church and people would take Jesus off the cross. In churches and on crucifixes. I find it terrible to worship the suffering He experienced in his final days. I prefer to see him as the Great Teacher whose message would have gone on for many years had He lived, Had Mankind not sacrificed him. I think the thought of Jesus here to take away our sin is rediculous. If it were true He failed miserably as you can find 'sin' everywhere you look--wherever you find Man you find 'sin' especially in today's world. I long for more Peaceful days. It is good to have a forum here to share our thoughts and experiences.

peace,

druidinthemist

I've got somewhat similar beliefs: I try to follow the teachings of Jesus as I understand them and find that they merge very well with what I practice in the way of Druidry / paganism. I see Jesus as a spiritual ancestor. IMO Christianity is a later construction and bears very little relation to the actual teaching and example of Jesus.

nollaig, i am sorry you saw my words as a rant. it seems to me that yours was the opinionated. if i care to read the bible or not is my affair, i did not tell you to drop yours. if you believe what you believe that is fair and yours to harbour. it seems to me that it is the ones who hold 'concrete' beliefs and opinions are the ones who sound intolerant, and voyage into rant-hood. i do find it rather disturbing to think that Someone was tortured, tormented and crucified for our good. His words live on not because of His death, but because of his LIVING message. if you care to believe He suffered for you, that is fine with me. But don't accuse me of being WRONG MINDED.

For what it's worth, I consider myself Christian in that I follow the teachings that Jesus delivered as stated in the New Testament. But I also think it's a little disturbing that Jesus is portrayed so often in so many prominent places as being nailed to a cross and suffering.

I would sooner identify with the old Jewish mandate of forbidding all graven images of such things, as the ideas these things represent are very sacred, and the only reason they were originally simplified into graphical depictions (which used to be punishable by death) is because there were so many illiterate people in the Middle Ages that the only way they could remember the biblical stories was to have them depicted graphically.

that was the point in what i was trying to say to nollaig. i would like to walk into a church that has no crosses in it whatsoever. but instead a standing statue of jesus as we think he looked embracing the people with open arms, or arms up-stretched his eyes gazing at the heavens. that to me is a spiritual depiction of jesus. something we could truly connect with the Goodness, the Truth, the Christ, the Teacher and all that Jesus represented. a loving depiction from the congregation--less morbid, the church should not be about suffering. Jesus was not about suffering. i think we can all agree on that.

The Christian Church I attend does not have a crucifix, there are plenty of Christian Churches that don't. We have a tapestry of a rural scene across each of the seasons.
Don't try and classify all Christians as one group we can be very different.

I grew up catholic. While I unsubscribed formally from church and I don't identify myself as christian anymore, I am still connected to it. I dislike the institute, but not the energy, community and traditions, since there is a lot of good too. There are churches with wells here, as well as a church dedicated to a local saint who lived in a hollow tree and healed animals and people alike. There we can still collect sand from this site, which sand is scattered in animalpens and cages for their good health. Those kind of places are havens and holy to me.

All catholic churches here have the familiair crucifix hanging around. I've spent a lot of time under them, when I was an acolyte. A such I've worked with the image and energy a lot. I find it ambivalent, both a powerful image of selfsacrifice out of deepfelt true love and connection, as well as a horrible image of the very worst people can and will do to each other. As such, it can be useful for contemplation and reflection.

"Why does it disturb me?"
"What would I have done?"
"Where would I have stood?"
"Would I take the bullet for the ones I love?"
"Would I stand by idly?"

I can't help but think of the throngs of people lining the street, enough of them must have felt that what was happening is wrong. If they would have stood up, been authentic and true to themselves, the whole crucifixion might not have happened. But standing by without acting upon your convictions, mayit be fear holding you back, may it be (self)doubt, while apparantly wrong things are happening, that is evil in itself.

And that is very "now", if we see where the world is going. I feel we as humankind have an obligation to ourselves and the world around us to better ourselves. If an image of mankind at both its best and worst at the same time helps some people to attain that, by all means keep it up there. If it doesn't, don't look at it. If the crucifix at your church disturbs you deeply (I've seen some disturbing snuff-horror-movie-crucifixes that can give you nightmares), talk with the pastor about maybe changing it. Don't forget that they are a form of art though, and art should comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable.

Three sounds one should treasure:
the whisper of the wind through the leaves
the songs of one's heart
the callings of the universe Golden Harps are like cookies, you can never have just oneSacred spaces and places

as a final word on the subject from me, i guess my belief is that Jesus' ministry was so short (a couple of years, really) that we would have so much more to study and worship had he not been murdered. i get great pleasure and knowledge from watching such Sacred Men as Ghandi, and such. Their message is clear and the lives reflect that knowledge. when i think of Ghandhi i do not envision the bullets ripping through his chest, killing him. i wish this was true of Jesus--Whom i love and learn from. being against the celebration of His death does not mean i am not a Christian, it may mean i am not like some Catholics. Frankly I am surprised by some of the comments to my posts. I thought druids were accepting of other people's views and world views, peaceful people. i also guess that religion to some is a very touchy subject. i am not religious so i do not harbour such a burden. i am a student of Jesus and his Words.

As someone of whom has deeply studied both from the Roman Catholic and baptist Christian traditions prior to leaving organized religion behind due to the PEOPLE, I can say that the focus around Easter time is not his death, but his resurrection from the grave. That Christ beat death in order to enable all people the ability to achieve everlasting life. Many non-traditional Christian churches do indeed have a cross without Jesus prostrate upon it, as a further illustration of this symbol of paying the ultimate price and sacrifice. The idea is that you don't go looking for Jesus in the grave, for he is not there. Anyway--that's a broad understanding of idea behind why Easter (or Resurrection Sunday, as many Christians have started adopting) is the most holy of times for the Christian faith. It's the crux behind their entire religion.

While I would not call myself a Christian, Christian-Druid, or Christian-curious, this past Sunday I attended an Easter service with my family and had a moving experience. The climax of the message came as members of the church brought a huge floral cross ringed with palm fronds down the aisle to be installed by the altar, all while an ethereal hymn was sung by the choir. There was no corpus or death, only hope, life and rebirth present in the minds of those in attendance. No figurative or literal suffering, no hell-fire, just SPRING and Christ's message: that we each deserve forgiveness and renewal because our "Father" loves us and knows our hearts.

JanuaryRose wrote:As someone of whom has deeply studied both from the Roman Catholic and baptist Christian traditions prior to leaving organized religion behind due to the PEOPLE

I can totally identify with that. I've been struggling with seeing people go to church, quote bible passages, talk about the love of God/Jesus and then be downright spiteful and vindictive to other people who have a different view point from them. I'm afraid I just can't get my head around how so few Christians do genuinly "walk the talk". Heaven must be an awfully empty place!

JanuaryRose wrote:As someone of whom has deeply studied both from the Roman Catholic and baptist Christian traditions prior to leaving organized religion behind due to the PEOPLE

I can totally identify with that. I've been struggling with seeing people go to church, quote bible passages, talk about the love of God/Jesus and then be downright spiteful and vindictive to other people who have a different view point from them. I'm afraid I just can't get my head around how so few Christians do genuinly "walk the talk". Heaven must be an awfully empty place!

The way the American Republican voting Christians act online ended Christianity once and for all for me.

In that same vain.

It's okay, I'm happier now. I'm not anti-Christianity by any means. Just not keen on torture, pro-war and disrespecting the legal system.

I am new here and am wondering if it is still possible to gain access to the Druid-Christian Forum?

I tried PMing both Martina Silvercloud and Katsu, but am not sure if the messages went through as they are showing up in my Outbox and not in my Sent Messages Folder. I have also tried applying to the forum through the Usergroups section, but have not yet heard anything back.
Any help would be very much appreciated as I would love to learn more

I am new here and am wondering if it is still possible to gain access to the Druid-Christian Forum?

I tried PMing both Martina Silvercloud and Katsu, but am not sure if the messages went through as they are showing up in my Outbox and not in my Sent Messages Folder. I have also tried applying to the forum through the Usergroups section, but have not yet heard anything back.
Any help would be very much appreciated as I would love to learn more

Thank you so much and Bright Blessings!

Hello Lunalu Sky

Lets give it through the weekend - If nothing happens by Monday, I'll PM one of our Lovely Admin folks who will set you up.

Cheers,
Michael

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Let him step to the music he hears,
however measured or far away." - Thoreau